Richard St. John Tyrwhitt
' (1832-1898), 1857. ''Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.]] Rev. Richard St John Tyrwhitt (19 March 1827 - 6 Nov. 1895) was an English poet, cleric and academic, known as a writer on art. Life Tyrwhitt was the eldest son of Robert Philip Tyrwhitt (1798-1886), a metropolitan police magistrate and author of Notices and Remains of the Family of Tyrwhitt, 1872, and of legal works, by his wife Catherine Wigley, daughter of Henry St. John.Boase, 444. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 15 May 1845. He was a student from 1845 to 1859, tutor from 1852 to 1856, and rhetoric reader in 1856. He earned a B.A. in 1849 and an M.A. in 1852. In 1851 he was ordained, and from 1858 to 1872 he held the vicarage of St. Mary Magdalen in Oxford. He married, first, on 28 June 1858, Eliza Ann, daughter of John Spencer Stanhope of Cannon Hall, Yorkshire. She died on 8 September 1859, leaving a son, Walter Spencer Stanhope. By a second marriage, on 2 Jan. 1861, to Caroline (died 1883), youngest daughter of John Yorke of Bewerley Hall, Yorkshire, he had 6 children. Tyrwhitt had great artistic insight, and with a technical training would probably have developed high merit as a landscape-painter. He exhibited between 1864 and 1880 2 watercolours at the Royal Academy and 2 at the Suffolk Street Gallery, and several of his paintings in watercolours hang in the common-room of Christ Church, Oxford. He was a fervent admirer of John Ruskin, in whose favour he withdrew his candidature for the Slade professorship of fine arts in 1869. For many years he was a member of the committee for the decoration of St. Paul's Cathedral. During the contested 1877 election for the Oxford Professorship of Poetry, Tyrwhitt attacked candidate John Addington Symonds in an article, "The Greek Spirit in Modern Literature," published in Contemporary Review. The argument also took in Benjamin Jowett, suspected of unorthodox religious views. Symonds found it telling, and withdrew his candidacy shortly before the election. Tyrwhitt's piece caused the withdrawal of Walter Pater, as well. Also in the Contemporary Review, he argued in 1878 that belief in evolution was compatible with Christianity, and that John Tyndall was incorrect in thinking otherwise. He died at 62 Banbury Road, Oxford, on 6 Nov. 1895. Writing Tyrwhitt was a well-known writer on art and author of ‘A Handbook of Pictorial Art’ (1866; 2nd edit. 1868). In addition to many sermons, he published: 1. ‘Concerning Clerical Powers and Duties,’ 1861. 2. ‘Christian Art and Symbolism, with Hints on the Study of Landscape,’ 1872 (preface by Ruskin). 3. ‘The Art Teaching of the Primitive Church,’ 1874. 4. ‘Our Sketching Club: Letters and Studies in Landscape Art, with a Reproduction of the Lessons and Woodcuts in Ruskin's “Elements of Drawing,”’ 1874. 5. ‘Hugh Heron, Ch. Ch.: an Oxford Novel,’ 1880. 6. ‘Greek and Gothic: Progress and Decay in the three Arts of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting,’ 1881. 7. ‘The Natural Theology of Natural Beauty,’ 1882. 8. ‘Christian Ideals and Hopes: an Argument from Moral Beauty,’ 1883. 9. ‘An Amateur Art Book: Lectures,’ 1886. 10. ‘Free Field Lyrics, chiefly descriptive,’ 1888. To Mr. Francis Galton's ‘Vacation Tourists,’ 1864, he contributed an account of a visit to Sinai (pp. 327–56). Publications Poetry * Fragments. Oxford, UK: James Parker, 1867. * Free Field Lyrics: Chiefly descriptive. London & New York: Macmillan, 1888. *''Battle and After: Concerning Sergeant Thomas Atkins Grenadier Guards; with other verses. London & New York: Macmillan, 1889. Novel *''Hugh Heron, Ch. Ch.: An Oxford novel. London: Strahan, 1880; Bristol, UK: Thoemmes, 2004. Non-fiction *''Five Sermons on War''. Oxford, UK, & London : J. Henry / J. Parker, 1859. *''Monthly Offertory: A sermon''. Oxford, UK, & London : J. Henry / J. Parker, 1859. *''Penitence and Confession: A sermon''. Oxford, UK: 1859. *''Our Public Worship: Three sermons''. Oxford, UK: J.H. & J. Parker, 1860. *''Concerning Clerical Powers and Duties''. Oxford, UK: J.H. & J. Parker, 1861. *''Concerning Doubt: A letter to a layman''. Oxford, UK: J.H. & J. Parker, 1861. *''Condescension / "Work is worship" / Repentance the peculiar gift of man: Three sermons''. Oxford, UK: J.H. & J. Parker, 1862. *''The Schooling of Life'' (essays). London: 1864. *''A Handbook of Pictorial Art. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1868. *''The Unity of Inspiration: A sermon. Oxford, UK: James Parker, 1869. *''Four Latter-Day Sermons''. Oxford, UK, & London: James Parker, 1871. *''Christian Art and Symbolism; with some hints on the study of landscape'' (with preface by John Ruskin). London: Smith, Elder, 1872. *''The Art Teaching of the Primitive Church. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1874. *Our Sketching Club: Letters and studies in landscape art; with a reproduction of the lessons and woodcuts in Ruskin's "Elements of Drawing". London: 1874. *''Some Anglican Views on Confession: Two sermons. Oxford, UK: printed by H. Spackman, 1877. *''Greek and Gothic: Progress and decay in the three arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting''. London: W. Smith, 1881. *''The Natural Theology of Natural Beauty''. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1882. *''Other Men's Labour: A sermon. Oxford, UK: Parker, 1882. *''Christian Ideals and Hopes: An argument from moral beauty. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge / New York: E. & J.B. Young, 1883. *''An Amateur Art Book: Lectures''. Oxford, UK: J. Vincent, 1886. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Richard St John Tyrwhitt, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 7, 2017. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Mar. 7, 2017. Notes External links ;Poems *"The Glory of Motion" in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895 ;About * Tyrwhit, Richard St.John Category:1827 births Category:1895 deaths Category:19th-century English Anglican priests Category:Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Category:Watercolorists Category:19th-century painters